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Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Neuquen: 21.02. – 05.03.2010 Finally we found it again; the never ending distances, the peacefulness, the quietness and the breathtaking nature, that we have missed for so long. However not every stop in the Pampa was planed, but now from the beginning.
On February 21st at 5:40am the
plane from Rome has landed in Buenos Aires with Markus Parents and a big
suitcase just for us on board. Thanks to everyone who has helped to
fill this suitcase. For us it was like Christmas. The next two days we
spent with again with a bit more sightseeing and steak eliminating in
Buenos Aires. Of course the one or the other bottle of Malbec (red wine)
was not safe from us, before it was time to move on. For that, Markus
parents rented a 4x4 mobile home ideal to follow Nisto for a while on
our trip around the globe.
Our first destination was
Mendoza, from where it was supposed to go south along the Ruta Quarenta
until the end of the world, but as we arrived after two days the weather
was not in our favor. So we stocked up on meat and wine and went on
towards the mountains and the chelonian border. And indeed after we
passed the first mountain range the sun showed up again. In the middle
of nowhere with view of the tallest mountain of America, the Aconcagua,
we set up our first ‘wild’ camp. In the distance we could watch the
Guanacos (a relative of the Lama) and Nandues (the South American
ostrich). We even saw a Condor soaring the skies. It was marvelous and
just what we have been looking for.
As the weather showed itself
from its best side, we took the time and visited the Aconcagua. Ok, not
all the way to the top, but from its base one has great views to it
glaciers and the top. And since we were already here why not having a
peek into Chile? Said and done and so we crawled slowly but surely up to
the 3’863 Meter high pass with great views to both sides. But Chile had
to wait, for a moment we thought about sleeping at the top but due to
strong winds we went down again and found another nice place to camp.
That night we got ripped out of
our sleep by a shaking Nisto, first we were afraid that we roll down a
hill, or somebody is shaking Nisto since it was a wild camp close to a
dry riverbed, but nobody was around also wind it could not be, nothing
outside was moving. As we heard some stones coming down the hills in the
distance we came to the conclusion, it had to be an earthquake. Only
two days later we were quite astonished as heard in a chat about the
dimensions of it.
That day the 27th of February
we finally made our first approach to the ‘Ruta 40’ where the adventure
south finally should start. But after about 80 Kilometer (50 miles) of
gravel road the radio message came; “Markus, we have a flat!” Well if
it’s nothing else. Turned around and headed back, the position of the
rear wheels showed it quite clear; it was something else. Villa Elisa
turned into Wreck Elisa, the rear axle including housing was broken, the
differential turned into an Anker and was on the floor. It was Saturday
afternoon in the middle of nowhere. Of course our Satellite phone
wasn’t working properly anymore since a few weeks. So we erected the
warning triangles and left Markus Parents behind in the search of a
phone. Some 80 Km further we found one at a gas station, but to make our
luck complete the 24 hour emergency service number just said that it
was the wrong number. We pulled every trick we knew, asked different
people but after three hour we had to give up and return to the now
called Campsite Ruta 40. Sunday we spent in the middle of the Highway
with flying our kite, pulling new water hoses through Nisto, waving at
passing cars, reading and relaxing. If you leave the tilted wheels aside
it was a great day.
On Monday morning at dawn the
two men left site to try their luck, while the women held the fortes on
the Ruta 40. The time went by and as the man came back in the early
afternoon it was with the news that the next day a spare vehicle should
arrive. On that we emptied two bottles of wine in the evening. But
before we could enjoy them, we had to move into Nisto for security, a
violent thunderstorm passed right above our ‘Campground’.
On Tuesday at noon Villa Elisa
II finally arrived. And after a thorough introduction we were back on
the road towards the Laguna Llancancelo, where over 100 species of birds
can be found including the Flamingo. Because of the muddy shore we
didn’t get real close to the Laguna, that we could only imagine how
these pink birds look like.
Further we went to the
Argentine Switzerland. The Ruta 40 towards it can only be described as a
dream, ever changing landscapes; sometimes covered in Lava, sometimes
colorful sand structures, sometimes valleys carve from rivers. In one
word it was amazing. Until we reached Lago Alumine, there we really felt
almost like at home with one major difference, here some mountains are
volcanoes and there were vast spaces so we could camp right at the lake
shore. Fantastic and the water were inviting, so we had to take a dip.
The next few days we rolled
from one lake to the other and enjoyed each one of them. And since we
were already off season we’ve hardly seen any other travelers and we had
all the lakes all to ourselves. With the Volcano Lanin in the back in
the National Park with the same name at the beautiful Lake Paimun we
completed our first year of traveling on a wonderful day.
How our second year started,
you can read in the next report.
Sonja and Markus
Here it goes to the pictures… |
